Dark Legends 2: The Age of Nightmares
by PotCFan101
Summary: Story elements borrowed from Sandman comic Preludes and Nocturnes, as well as the animated Justice League Dark movie. Set four years after Andy Barclay killed Damien Darhk, people all over the world begin to have nightmarish visions before killing each other. Suspecting a supernatural threat, Batman searches for John Constantine and Alice Pierce to help him in solving the mystery.
1. Prologue: Paranormal Activity

_Washington DC_

 _2022_

Night time befell Washington, with people attempting to get to their homes. Unfortunately, there was a rather large traffic jam, caused by a woman who had stopped her car and was speaking on her phone.

"Oh, just great." The woman complained, as she felt her back bumper get hit from behind. "No, it's not about the presentation! Some idiot just rammed his car into me!" The woman got out, yelling at the man who hit her. She stopped, however, when the man got out and turned into a demon. The woman screamed, getting back into her car, and noticed that everyone around her was a creature from Hell. The started started her engine, tearing through the streets and hitting demons in front of her, before her car was finally picked up and set down. A blonde haired woman approached her, wearing a red cape and blue outfit with an S on it. The woman recognized her as Supergirl, one of the heroes who had helped save the world from an alien invasion in 2016, then fended off Nazis from an alternate universe the following year.

"Supergirl!" The woman cried out. "Save me from them! They're all demons!" Supergirl looked around, seeing normal people.

"I only see one person who could be a demon." Supergirl replied, glaring at the woman.

 _Central City_

"I'll ask you one more time!" A man said, aiming his shotgun at a grotesque monster in his kitchen. "What did you do to my family?"

"Steven, it's me!" The monster insisted, showing its many eyes. "I am your wife, and these are our kids."

"You're not my family! You killed them!" Steven yelled, cranking the pump on the gun. "Just like the others! Now it's your turn!" Steven pulled the trigger, but a streak of yellow lightning entered the house, running in front of the monster. The streak faded, revealing the Flash, who opened his hand and let the shotgun pellets fall to the floor.

"No one's dying here tonight." The Flash announced.

"It's not me you should stop." Steven insisted. "Look at them!" While the door was kicked open, revealing Detective Joe West and Captain Singh, Flash looked behind him, seeing Steven's family.

"It's just like the neighbors." Steven said desperately. "Go to my shed! You'll see I'm right!" Barry ran to the shed, throwing a ball of lightning to destroy the door, and peered inside. All he saw were mutilated bodies. Human bodies.

"What have you done?" Flash asked, once the police and Steven joined him. Steven simply looked on in horror.

 _Star City_

"What did you do with Laurel?" Quentin Lance asked, pulling out a gun on the demon in front of him.

"Quentin, I am Laurel!" The demon pleaded. "You took me in so I could get away from Ricardo Diaz!"

"You're lying! You killed her!" Quentin yelled, about to pull the trigger, but was stopped when the Green Arrow burst into the apartment, quickly disarming the former police captain.

"Quentin! What the Hell are you doing?" Green Arrow asked.

"Oliver, that thing is a demon!" Quentin shouted, pointing behind him. "It killed my daughter!" Oliver looked behind him, seeing Laurel Lance from Earth two.

"Laurel, are you alright?" Oliver asked, turning off his voice scrambler. Laurel slowly nodded.

"But, but…" Quentin stammered. "I swear, that was a demon." Oliver looked at his old friend quizzically, before leaving the apartment.

 _Gotham_

A woman stood at the balcony of a cathedral, holding a blanketed object in her hands. As she pulled back the blanket, it was revealed to be a baby, which she prepared to drop into the streets below.

"Let me help you." A voice announced. The woman turned around, seeing the Batman.

"It's not my fault." The woman tried to explain, staring at the demon wrapped in a blanket. "I've given birth to the Devil. It's the Devil! I'm so sorry."

"Ma'am, I have seen the Devil, and he is not a baby." Batman tried to reassure her. "You're tired. Give me the baby. You don't want to hurt her." The woman gave the black clad hero one last look, before throwing the baby off the balcony. Batman jumped off the ledge, catching the baby and using his grapnel gun to swing up to safety. He looked down, seeing the woman had jumped to her death in that same moment.

"I'm sorry." Batman said, with remorse.

 _Arrowcave_

About an hour later, Batman found himself in the Green Arrow's bunker, surrounded by Team Arrow, a few members of Team Flash, and Supergirl, discussing the rising crime rates in civilians.

"These crimes were committed by law abiding citizens." Barry Allen announced, while footage was shown of the woman running people over.

"They all claimed to have seen demons or monsters beforehand." Green Arrow added.

"Got an idea what's causing it?" Kara asked. When Barry shook his head, she added. "Great. I decide to hop over to your Earth for a week, and it couldn't be a giant robot?"

"The same pattern is repeating around the world." Felicity Smoak continued, showing a map of the globe. "Maybe there's a paranormal element to this."

"Are you suggesting magic?" Batman asked.

"We've encountered magic before." Flash reasoned. "Damien Darhk, Mallus, Benatu Eshu."

"Even our friends like Lucifer and Constantine have supernatural powers." Green Arrow added. "For everything we've seen over the years, is it that easy to rule out?"

"The criminally insane don't need magic as an excuse." Batman muttered, getting up and leaving. "Maybe you should start paying more attention in the streets, then running around or flying over them."

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne was getting ready for his nightly shave. He just finished applying the shaving cream, and began to use his razor, when he blacked out for a second, cutting himself. Bruce looked up, seeing the name "Constantine" written on the fogged up mirror. Frowning, Batman wiped off the blood and shaving cream with a towel and walked out entering his bedroom to find the names "Constantine" and "Pierce" written in what appeared to be blood. He knew who those were. Batman had briefly met John Constantine when Damien Darhk threatened to unleash Hell on Earth four years ago. And Pierce… that could possibly mean Nica Pierce, the wife of Andy Barclay. But Nica and Andy had retired after the defeat of Damien Darhk. That would only mean Alice Pierce, who he knew was still working with the Green Arrow and his son, William Clayton. If they truly were the key to solving this "paranormal" threat, then he'd need to find them first. Luckily, he knew where one of them was…


	2. Preludes and Nocturnes

_Los Angeles_

 _One Day Ago_

"Ah, bollocks." Constantine grumbled, throwing his cards down. Very recently, Rip Hunter had disbanded the Legends, and John decided to celebrate by playing poker with Lucifer Morningstar and three demons they came across. Even though it wasn't a casino, the Devil had made it so they could play in his penthouse at Lux. "In what bloody timeline, or parallel Earth, does a full house lose?"

"Too too bad, Constantine!" The red haired demon jeered.

"You're growing old, John." The fat demon taunted. Indeed, it had only been four years since Damien Darhk was killed for the second time, and Constantine's hair was already turning from blonde to gray.

"Age before beauty, mate." Constantine retorted. "Explains why you're pretty ugly."

"Where's your old friend, Chandler?" The red haired demon asked. "Did you kill him again?" John glared daggers. It had only been a few months since he heard that he final soul was spent saving his daughter from a drunk driver, and whenever it was mentioned, he still felt like someone stabbed him in the gut.

"Boys, you're boring me!" The third demon, who had long hair and longer horns, chided, while telekinetically dealing the cards. "Let's just play!" Constantine looked at the demon, not knowing that he had magically switched his cards, and bet all his chips in.

"Seems me luck is as up as me bits down under!" The long haired demon laughed. "But, we're due to have business with other friends, so it's time to bust you out!"

"Copperfield's coming!" Red hair exclaimed. "Presto chango! Woman in a box!"

"He's classy, unlike you!" The fat demon added.

"Are they seriously saying David Copperfield has real magic?" John muttered, surprised.

"He owns multiple islands and has more money than me. What do you think?" Lucifer asked sarcastically, as the long haired demon bet all his chips and money in the pot.

"No calls for me." The demon announced. "And it looks like you can't match me. By my rules, you lose."

"Then I raise." Constantine offered.

"You're soul isn't worth two bits." The fat demon shouted.

"He's got a point." Lucifer agreed.

"Stuff it, I'm not betting my soul." Constantine told everyone. "I'm betting the millhouse. And since I'm including everything inside, you can't match me, Abnegazar." The long haired demon, Abnegazar, looked down, linking arms with the other demons and chanting to create a portal, pulling out a small chest.

"Here's my raise." Abnegazar declared. Constantine looked in the box, pulling out a large ruby. Looking closer, John noticed the stone had a large crack down the middle, with a large sliver gone.

"A tainted and cracked dreamstone?" John asked. "Broken knick knacks? Are you mad?"

"The stone still works, even when it was corrupted by that old man!" Abnegazar insisted. "Besides, you've got plenty of useless shite in that house. What's a few more going to matter?"

"I'd be a poor sport if I said no to that offer." John mumbled, dealing a hand, revealing he had three of a kind. The demons three laughed, before checking their own cards. The hands they had were changed back to normal.

"You cheated!" Abnegazar roared, smashing the table.

"Technically, we both cheated." John muttered. "I just did it better."

"Don't ruin the merchandise!" Lucifer shouted. Abnegazar ignored the Devil and picked up Constantine, throwing him into the piano with such force that the instrument splintered in half. Abnegazar was about to rip Constantine's heart out, when his arm was grabbed. The demon turned around, seeing Lucifer, but with his Devil face and burning red eyes.

"You should not have done that!" Lucifer shouted, taking out a demon dagger, once belonging to Mazikeen, and stabbed Abnegazar in the chest, before cutting off the other demon's heads.

"This isn't over, Constantine!" The demons three vowed. "We will have your soul!"

"Get in line, you wankers." Constantine scoffed, checking the contents of the box. Satisfied everything was still there, he heaved it under his arm, beginning to walk away. A portal to Hell opened, dragging the demons in, who were still cursing the demonologist. John smirked, creating his own portal to the millhouse, and tossed the box in, preparing to walk in himself.

"Constantine!" Lucifer yelled. John turned around, surprised to see the Devil's eyes were still burning. "You bring demons here, cheat at a game of cards, and wreck my home?"

"First, they cheated first." Constantine pointed out. "Secondly, they did the wrecking."

"But you still provoked them!" Lucifer yelled. "You forced me to kill them! Did you even think of the consequences?"

"I did." John admitted. "Weighed it against me being defiled and devoured, and thought it was worth it."

"Sometimes, you can be a world class asshole." Lucifer muttered. "Get out!" Constantine shrugged, walking through the portal before vanishing. A minute later, Chloe Decker came up through the penthouse elevator, looking around the room.

"Jesus, what happened here?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, please don't bring up Father's other son, Chloe." Lucifer said, exhausted. "And what happened was John. He decided to host poker night here, and the other players were sore losers." Chloe stopped talking, and just sat next to him.

"You're the Devil." Chloe stated the obvious. "Can't you just rebuild it?"

"Yes, but that piano had sentimental value." Lucifer sadly explained. "It was a gift from someone in Hell, after he taught me how to play." Suddenly, the elevator doors dinged, and Lucifer looked up in annoyance.

"Oh, who the bloody Hell is it now?" Lucifer complained, but stopped, seeing a man in a black robe and pale skin. The man had black hair that appeared to be not combed, and his eyes were pure black. Lucifer knew this man, however, it had been a long while.

"Dream?" Lucifer asked. The man simply nodded. "It's been too long."

" _Too long indeed, Morningstar_." Dream replied.

"You know him?" Chloe asked.

"He is Dream of the Endless." Lucifer explained. "Also called the Sandman in the old folk tales, or simply Morpheus. He used to watch over our dreams and nightmares."

"What happened?" Chloe asked.

" _I was imprisoned._ " Morpheus answered. " _People began sleeping too much, having nightmares, or not sleeping enough. And now, Morningstar, I need your help to reclaim my possessions_."

"Of course, Morpheus." Lucifer answered. "Where shall we start?


	3. Looking for the Truth

_Chicago_

 _Now_

Alice Pierce, William Clayton, and Nora Darhk stood outside a heavily guarded building, which was the hideout of one of Chicago's most dangerous criminal organization, called the Ninth Circle. It had been a couple years since Alice had been in Star City, what with becoming a vigilante and helping the Chicago PD, and she recently invited her old friends over to catch up. Unfortunately, one of her contacts, Aiden Pearce, had informed her of the gang she had been tracking, and had told her that all nine of the high ranking members would be at the hideout just for that one night. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, Alice went straight to the address, with William and Nora following to assist her in any way.

"Thanks for agreeing to come here." Alice said, loading a pistol. "You guys ready?"

"As we'll ever be." William replied, putting on his blue hood and got out his bow, with Nora nodding.

"Then let's do this." Alice announced. "You mind knocking, William?" Clayton smirked, shooting a bomb arrow and blew the doors open. Immediately, criminals began shooting, but Nora held up her hands, stopping the bullets with her magic while William and Alice fired back.

"You got a net arrow in there?" Alice asked.

"No, but I got this!" William replied, shooting an arrow with a flashbang, blinding the thugs for a moment. That moment was all the trio needed, and they quickly made short work of the criminals before advancing through the hideout. Alice and her friends ran up several flights of stairs, reaching the ninth and last floor.

"They should be in here." William informed, listening through a door. The trio was about to kick the doors open, but suddenly fell to the ground, being knocked out. When they woke up, they found their hands tied behind their backs, and were stripped of their weapons. Alice looked up, seeing Nine people in suits and wearing masks, one of which appeared to be a demon's head.

"I'm assuming your the vigilantes?" The demon masked man asked. "You've been fucking up my business for months."

"Go to Hell." Alice spat. The man simply smirked, before approaching the Blue Arrow, throwing his hood back.

"Holy shit, you're Oliver Queen's son!" The man exclaimed, before pulling out a gun. "Then that means… he's the Green Arrow!"

"Go ahead and shoot." William dared. "Because if you do, then the Green Arrow will kill you all, and topple your organization."

"I'd like to see him try." The Circle's leader smirked, cocking the gun.

"You suck at bluffing." Nora whispered. The leader was about to pull the trigger, when a small black object shattered the overhead glass and knocked the gun away. Alice looked at the ground, noticing the object was in the shape of a bat.

"Surprise." Alice grinned, as the Batman jumped into the room, making short work of the leaders of the Ninth Circle. Batman ducked, dodged, and jumped, before uppercutting henchmen and throwing people into walls. Finally, Batman dodged bullets fired, and knocked out eight of the nine highest members of the Circle.

"If you send me to jail, I'll tell the whole world Queen is the Green Arrow!" The leader shouted. "And I know you won't kill me!"

"I won't." Batman admitted. "But he might. And even if the Arrow doesn't kill you, they certainly will." Batman nudged his head at the kids, who gave the man a glare, before Batman punched his lights out.

"You're a long way from Gotham." Alice remarked. "I'm sure this isn't a social call."

"Unfortunately not." Batman admitted. "I need your help. Have you seen Constantine?"

"Not for a while." Alice replied. "But I do know where he hides out in. What's going on?"

"Have you seen the news lately?" Batman asked. "Random civilians are killing each other, and have claimed to have seen demonic visions while doing so. I'd say it was a metahuman, but this is happening all over the planet."

"I don't know of a demon who can possess people of this level." Nora commented. "Not even Mallus could control billions of souls at a time. He wasn't that powerful."

"I've heard of something that can do this." Alice spoke up. "There is an artifact called the dreamstone. I read about it from one of Constantine's books on mythical objects. It was said to influence people's dreams, and induced visions."

"I've heard of this as well." William said. "Last year, Dad and the Flash fought a man calling himself Doctor Destiny. He claimed to be using something he called the dreamstone, but I thought Dad destroyed it."

"Last I checked, Destiny was transferred from Iron Heights to Arkham Asylum, after a psychotic breakdown." Alice reminded Bruce. "Think we should pay him a visit?"

"Might as well." Batman agreed. "Then, we'll visit Constantine."

 _Arkham Asylum_

 _Hours Later_

Batman, Alice, William, and Nora strolled into Arkham Asylum, being accompanied by James Gordon.

"He's insane!" Gordon exclaimed. "There's no way he'll tell you anything!"

"I'm not here to necessarily interrogate Destiny, Commissioner." Batman told him. "I'm here just to make sure he's where he belongs."

"And the kids?" James asked. "Are you having another one already?"

"We work on our own." Alice told him. "I'm not going to dress up in a bird costume." The group walked through Arkham, Alice catching glimpses of the other inmates. One had skin pale as bones, with green hair and red lipstick, while cackling like a madman. Alice visibly shuddered, catching the attention of William.

"Something wrong?" Clayton asked.

"His laugh." Alice pointed out. "It sounds almost exactly like Chucky's." A chill went down her spine, remembering the doll that was possessed by the soul of Charles Lee Ray.

"Hey, he's gone." William reminded her. "He's been dead for five years. Your uncle, Andy Barclay, even did the deed himself."

"I know, it's just…" Alice trailed off, before getting an idea. Quickly, she pulled out an amulet given by Constantine and Andy, to tell if someone was really who they said they were. After looking at the pale man, it was revealed he wasn't possessed by Charles, and she sighed in relief.

"What was that?" Batman asked.

"John gave me this to see if people were possessed or if they were demons." Alice explained.

"You forgot that Damballa is also dead, right?" Nora asked. "And with him dead, his power died as well."

"We need to keep going." Batman announced, walking forward. Alice and her friends complied, seeing a man with skin that appeared similar to a crocodile's. In another cell, there was a man with a bag over his face and wearing a suit. One more cell down, Alice noticed a man with scars all over his body, arranged in tally marks.

"Here he is." Batman announced, opening a door. Inside was an old man with white hair, sitting in a wheelchair.

"This is Doctor Destiny?" Alice asked, unimpressed.

"After the breakdown and transfer, I heard that he stopped eating a lot, and got little sleep." William explained.

"Can't sleep…" Destiny muttered in agreement, appearing to be catatonic. "Can't dream… must think something happy…"

"What the fuck is that about?" Alice asked.

"Apparently, when the Flash damaged the dreamstone, it caused Destiny to stop dreaming." William reported. "At least, that's what he claimed."

"Well, there it is." Batman pointed out. "Destiny is still in Arkham, where he belongs."

"Then something else is causing these strange occurrences." Nora stated. "But who do we know who has this power?"

"How many sorcerers are still living?" Batman asked.

"We don't know. And none that we do know can do something like this." Alice told the Bat. "But first things first: we need to see Constantine."

"Agreed." Batman said, and they all left Arkham, driving towards Constantine's place with Alice giving the directions.


	4. Hope in Hell

_Hell_

"Home sweet home." Lucifer grumbled, as he walked through the wasteland with Morpheus. Along the way, Dream peered through the different cells, seeing the faces of Damien Darhk, Charles Lee Ray, Malcolm Graham, Tiffany Ray and her daughter Glenda, and Andy Barclay from Earth Two.

" _I've never seen these people before_." Dream remarked.

"We've been busy in the last five years." Lucifer shrugged. "And one of them is from another Earth." The two continued walking, also seeing Reese Getty and Doctor Foley. Morpheus looked around, seeing a woman appearing of African origin, being tortured while chained next to the cells.

" _Nada?_ " Dream asked. The woman looked up.

"Kai'ckul?" The woman, Nada, responded. "Please, save me!"

" _Why should I?_ " Dream asked again. " _You rejected the love I offered you!_ "

"My city was destroyed for what we had done!" Nada protested. "Please, Lord, forgive me! Do not blame me!"

" _No._ " Morpheus replied coldly. " _I do not forgive you, nor will I free you._ " The Sandman turned briskly and continued following Constantine, before coming before a large set of doors.

"Here we are." Lucifer informed, pushing the doors open and being met by Cain, sitting atop the Devil's throne.

"Welcome back, Lucifer." Cain greeted. "Are you here to take your throne back?"

"I'm afraid not yet." Lucifer replied. "I am here for Dream's helm. He had it safeguarded here, while he was imprisoned by Roderick Burgess over a hundred years ago."

"I've made sure no demon has stolen it while you were away." Cain told him, revealing an object made of a spine, with a blue jewel in the middle of a pale disk.

" _Thank you_." Dream said, before adding, " _Do you know who has my pouch of dream sand?_ "

"As a matter of fact, I do. Our old friend Constantine took it a few years ago." As Morpheus took his helm back, Cain added, "Oh, thought you'd want to know: someone has escaped Hell."

"Who?" Lucifer asked. "And how?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Cain said truthfully. "Abnegazar his brothers were supposed to watch over him, but they've been on Earth for a week."

"Yeah, I had played cards with them the other night with our old pal, John." Lucifer muttered bitterly. "But who escaped Hell?"

"That wizard, Felix Faust." Cain answered.

"Bollocks." Lucifer spat out. "Thank you, Cain. We can take it from here." Lucifer pulled out his pentecostal coin and teleported him and Dream back to Earth, appearing in Lux.

"So, one down, one to go." Lucifer told his old friend. Suddenly, Morningstar's phone rang, and he heard Chloe on the other end.

"Lucifer, I've been trying to call you for over an hour!" Decker chastised.

"What's the problem, Chloe?" Lucifer asked, curious.

"There's been a massive spike in crime lately." Chloe informed. "What's weirder is that the crimes were committed by regular citizens, and they claim they've seen demonic visions beforehand. Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"No, I do not." Lucifer said truthfully. "But I will find out. I promise." Lucifer then shut off his phone, turning to Morpheus.

"We have a new problem." Morningstar informed. "Apparently, citizens are now seeing nightmarish visions in LA."

" _I do not know what the cause could be_." Morpheus replied. " _It could be because of my imprisonment_."

"That's possible, but then why now?" Lucifer wondered. "If there's one person who might know, it's Constantine."

" _Or maybe it was the one who had escaped Hell_." Morpheus reasoned. " _The one called Faust. But I must speak with Constantine anyhow, as I have heard he could have my sand pouch_."

"I know where one of his friends lives." Lucifer told him, making his way to the elevator. "I'd fly us, but I'd imagine you're not at your full power just yet, and I hate carrying people. He and Morpheus went down to the ground floor of Lux, getting into the Devil's black car and began driving East, knowing it would be a long trip to where they were going.

 _Atlanta, Georgia_

Back with Alice and her friends, they rode with Batman in the Batmobile, which was driving through the middle of nowhere in Georgia.

"There must be something wrong with the GPS." Bruce commented, looking at the computer.

"Trust me, it's not." Alice promised. "I've researched this from John on how to get to his millhouse, and have put in the correct coordinates, with a little bit of magic to bypass the protection spell." Just then, a tornado appeared, wearing a large set of yellow eyes and forming a mouth.

"What the fuck?" Alice asked out loud. Nora raised her hands, attempting to halt the winds with her magic, but the tornado was easily resisting her powers.

"Step on it!" William shouted, and Batman stomped on the gas pedal, speeding towards the millhouse. Just as they were a few feet away, Batman and the kids jumped out, as Constantine opened the door.

"Get inside, now!" John shouted, prompting the group to rush in, with John shutting the door behind them. With everyone inside, Constantine asked. "Okay, Batsy, what're you here for?"

"If you haven't seen the news, civilians have been killing each other all over the planet." Batman explained gruffly. "Green Arrow, the Flash, and Supergirl believe the supernatural is involved."

"Ah bloody Hell." John complained, sitting down and lighting a cigarette. A few minutes later, he cast a spell, being able to see the crimes that happened in the past couple days. "You know, this could be Damien Darhk all over again."

"Darhk's dead." Alice reminded him. "We were all there when it happened. Andy killed him, Cain went to Hell, and we all went back to our normal lives. Well, as normal as it could get."

"So that means it's something else." William added. Just then, he took out his phone, receiving a text. "Damn. I'm sorry guys, but I have to go. Dad called me back in, said there's an assassin in town calling himself Onomatopoeia. He's already attempted to kill Diggle."

"No problem mate." Constantine said, using magic to open a portal back to the Arrow cave. "Give your dad my regards." William nodded, and went back to Star City, the portal closing behind him.

"Right, now I'll look into it. You lot can leave now." Constantine told them, opening the millhouse door.

"Wait a minute!" Alice shouted. "We're going with you!"

"And why would I let you?" Constantine asked.

"Because you need all the help you can get." Nora spoke up. "I still have my magic, and Alice probably knows more about the occult than either of us."

"And from what I've heard, you're not that much of a fighter." Batman added. "If things get ugly, I might have to pull your bacon out of the fire." Constantine sighed, looking up.

"Fine." John muttered. "I guess the Dark Legends are back in business. Should I call up Andy and Nica?"

"No, I think we can handle it." Alice replied. "But I'd prefer if we can call Lucifer, or Trixie."

"I haven't been able to get ahold of Lucifer for a few days." Constantine replied. "Probably wouldn't want to see me anyway. And for that reason, I doubt Trixie would join us either. But enough of that. Let's take a walk on the dark side." Constantine walked outside, being followed by Batman, Alice and Nora, and made their way to the city.


	5. Waiting at Death's Door

_Texas_

Lucifer and Morpheus continued driving across the United States, rarely pausing to rest or eat. Being immortals, they did not require either. As they were driving, Lucifer was listening to the song "The Devil went down to Georgia" on the radio, as a bit of irony.

" _Maybe you should pay attention to your driving_." Morpheus warned, seeing Lucifer's reckless behavior on the roads. Sure enough, the two heard sirens, and Lucifer was forced to pull over, and a cop got out and approached the vehicle.

"Ya know why I pulled ya over?" The officer asked, in a thick southern accent.

"Well, you obviously wanted to punish me using your limited authority." Lucifer told him. "After all, I was going well over the speed limit."

"I'm going to have to see your license and registration." The officer announced. Lucifer began pulling out a hundred dollar bill, and the cop asked, "You trying to bribe me?"

"Of course!" Lucifer chuckled. "You've broken the law before, haven't you?" Lucifer looked the man in the eyes, as the cop simply stared.

"Sometimes." The man admitted. "I like speeding in my car too, just because I can."

"Exactly!" Lucifer told him. "Here, take the cash, and this'll be our secret."

"You have a nice evening sir." The officer smirked, and went back to his car.

" _Impressive, Morningstar_." Morpheus complimented. " _But we must hurry_."

"I know, I know." Lucifer groaned, and floored the gas pedal, speeding away.

 _Atlanta, Georgia_

"Where are we going?" Batman asked, as the group walked down the street in Atlanta.

"We're going to see an old friend." Constantine replied. "Ritchie has something we can use." The group turned a corner, only to find black robed ghosts surrounding an apartment.

"Oh bollocks." Constantine muttered. "Shrouds." The shrouds circled around Constantine and his friends.

" _John Constantine_." The lead one whispered. " _Your friend is dying. Soon enough, we will drag his soul into Hell, and come for yours. I will personally come to collect you when your time has come_."

"Sorry mate, the First of the Fallen called dibs." Constantine murmured.

"What's going on?" Batman asked, apparently not able to see the shrouds as they circled around him.

"They're drawn to you." Nora realized.

" _This one has cheated us many times_." The lead shroud said. " _It will be satisfying to collect his soul_."

"Boo." Batman simply said, and the ghosts flew back.

"Okay, I'd love to stay and chat, but we have business to take care of." Constantine announced, and after flicking on his lighter and muttering an incantation a blinding light appeared and vaporized the ghosts. Just then, an older man with a cane opened his door, having gray hair and round glasses.

"I thought I felt a disturbance in the force." Ritchie Simpson said. "Hello, Johnny boy. I see you got a couple rugrats with you, and- Batman?"

"I'll tell you everything inside." Constantine promised, as he let himself and everyone else in. "Alright, let's cut to the chase: I need to borrow the Keshanti key."

"Unbelievable." Ritchie muttered. "You're not here to apologize."

"I was with you when it happened, Ritchie." John protested.

"Yeah, but I'm the one who got the magical cancer from a demon, while you got off scot free." Ritchie continued.

"Look, me apologizing has nothing to do with the key." Constantine bit back. "Besides, it's not like you're using it lately." Angered, Ritchie punched John, but the act caused him to lose his balance. It was only the intervention of Batman that he didn't fall to the floor.

"You can go screw yourself!" Ritchie yelled. "I'm not giving you crap!"

"Your anger is understandable." Batman spoke up. "But there are lives at stake here. I need you to reconsider." Ritchie thought for a minute, before walking to a box and taking out a small disk with a hole in it.

"Well, the doctors say to keep a positive attitude." Ritchie muttered. "So I'll focus on the fact I got to meet Batman today." Simpson gave Batman the key, before walking upstairs, telling the group they can see themselves out.

"Where now?" Alice asked.

"We visit Lance." Constantine replied. "He was affected by these nightmares too."

 _Star City Police Department_

"So how does this work?" Quentin asked. It had been a few minutes since Constantine and Batman showed up.

"Well, I put this key on your head, and we enter your memories." John told him. "If you're up for it."

"Hey, you saved my daughter's soul." Lance reminded the demonologist. "Can't think of a better way to repay you." John nodded, and put the key on Lance's head.

"I'm going with you." Nora told him. "You're going to need someone else for help." Constantine looked up at the ceiling, seeing no point in arguing.

"Oh, alright, love." Constantine grabbed Darhk's hand, the the two vanished, leaving Batman and Alice in the department with a room full of cops.

 _Dreamscape_

"Been a while since I've done this." John muttered, as he and Nora appeared to be floating, with balls of light around them. "I guess we start looking." Constantine and Darhk searched the different memories, each seeing a part of Quentin's life. One was of him taking Sara to work and handcuffing her. Another memory was of Quentin arresting Oliver Queen in 2012, on suspicion that he was the Hood.

"Found it!" Nora called out, causing Constantine to move over and look into the ball of light. From there, they saw Quentin filling out paperwork, when all of a sudden, a black shadow with a golden ring reached out and grabbed Lance's head, turning his eyes pure black for a moment. A few minutes later, Laurel Lance from Earth Two entered the apartment, and he pulled a gun on her, believing she was a demon.

"There it is." Constantine pointed to the ring, and after muttering an incantation, created a hologram like replica with magic, before he and Nora left Quentin's memories.

 _SCPD_

Constantine and Nora literally jumped out of Quentin's head, much to the surprise of Alice and Batman.

"Glad you're done there." Alice told them. "Because some fucking corpses from the morgue just got up and walked around!" Alice began shooting the zombies with her two pistols, while Batman threw explosive batarangs. Constantine turned on his lighter and threw fireballs, Nora tossed the corpses around like ragdolls, and Quentin got out his own gun. Finally, and explosion rang off in the precinct, and everyone turned around, seeing the Green Arrow using one of his bomb arrows.

"Looks like I got here just in time." Oliver said, and they continued fighting the zombies. Soon after, all the corpses were destroyed, and the group met up back in the middle.

"What the Hell happened?" Batman asked.

"Someone knows we're on their trail, and they want us to stay away." Alice guessed.

"It could be the same one who created that tornado the other night." Nora pointed out.

"Either way, we need to show Ritchie this." Constantine announced, showing the replica of the ring. "If there's anyone who'll know what it is, it's him." The Dark Legends then left the department, going back to Georgia, while Green Arrow and Lance stayed behind to clean up the mess.


	6. All His Engines

_Atlanta, Georgia_

"What are we looking at?" Batman asked, staring at the replica ring Constantine created.

"Honestly, not sure." Constantine replied. "It appears to be a relic of some kind, and a powerful one."

"It's a ring." Alice stated the obvious. "And according to that book I borrowed from you, it's been passed to various sorcerers."

"Aside from my father, did we know of any other sorcerers that powerful?" Nora asked.

"One, but he's been dead for nearly ten years." Constantine answered, as the group began walking back to Ritchie's home. "Those ghosts Nora and I saw in Lance's memory appeared to be similar to the Dark Ones from the Necronomicon. Speaking of, whatever happened to that guy with the bloody chainsaw hand?"

"I spoke with his daughter Brandy, and the last time she saw him was when he left her and his friends." Alice informed. "According to his friend Pablo, he ended up killing that huge demon that appeared in Elk Grove, and no one's seen nor heard from him since."

"Even if Williams is gone, why can't we just call the Green Arrow, Flash, or even Supergirl to help?" Nora asked.

"The capes and tights crew?" Constantine snorted. "They're useless against dark magic. They'd be a liability, no offense, Bats. But Ritchie is the best bet on knowing what this is."

"Aren't you forgetting that he fucking hates your guts?" Alice asked. Constantine's eyes narrowed.

"This is more important than hurt feelings." Constantine stated, before staring straight ahead. "Oh bollocks." Right at the doorstep of Ritchie's apartment were four shrouds, with a fifth leaving the place.

" _Constantine._ " The ghost greeted. " _You've arrived just in time to see us-_ " Constantine pulled out an amulet, vaporizing the evil spirit and running inside, seeing three more shrouds floating over Ritchie's almost dead body. Right next to Simpson was Lucifer Morningstar, kneeling over next to a man in a dark robe and messy dark hair. Lucifer immediately backed up, while Constantine slugged him, grabbing him by his suit.

"What did you do?" Constantine yelled. Lucifer's eyes burned a hot red, and pushed John with one hand, sending him crashing into a wall.

"I did nothing!" Lucifer hissed. "And you're ruining my suit!" Meanwhile, Alice, Nora and Batman attempted to help reaching.

"No pulse." Batman announced, putting his fingers to Ritchie's neck.

"Never thought I'd need this again." Alice grumbled, pulling out a syringe full of adrenaline.

"Hurry!" Nora said, watching as the shrouds began pulling Ritchie's soul from his body. Quickly, Alice readied the syringe, and stabbed Simpson in the chest, injecting him straight at the heart. The shrouds vanished, and Ritchie woke up with a gasp.

"Why?" Ritchie asked, attempting to pull out the syringe.

"Seems you have a few tricks of your own, eh?" Constantine observed, being helped off the floor by Lucifer.

"Not everything needs magic." Batman commented, pulling the syringe out. John nodded, before looking at the man with dark hair and a black robe.

"Who the bloody Hell are you?" Constantine asked.

" _I have gone by many names over the millennia_." The man said. " _Some called me the Sandman. Others, Morpheus. My true name, my favorite, is Dream of the Endless_." Constantine recoiled.

"What were you doing here?"

"We thought we'd see old Richard to ask about you, as you don't have a phone." Lucifer explained.

"And why'd you try to run?" Constantine asked. "Did you hurt Ritchie?"

"I told you, I did no such thing." Lucifer replied, his anger rising again. "I ran because I knew you'd blame me."

"Why are you looking for me?" Constantine asked, his voice revealing skepticism.

"Because Cain told us you have Dream's sand pouch." Lucifer told him. "Now, hand it over."

"Sorry mate, I don't have it." Constantine shrugged. "An old flame stole it from me months ago, and fled to New York. Haven't seen her since."

"Then let's go." Lucifer declared, starting to go outside.

"What about Ritchie?" Nora asked. John looked up, thinking for a minute.

"Nora, Alice, Bats, take Ritchie to the millhouse." Constantine decided, creating a portal for the group to go through. "I guess I'm taking a road trip with Morningstar and the man of our dreams." Alice nodded, and she and Batman carried Ritchie inside. "Nora, wait!" Darhk stopped, looking back at John, confused. Constantine muttered an incantation, conjuring the previous image of the magic ring.

"Make sure he sees that once he wakes up." Nora nodded, using her own magic to hold onto the image and go through the portal before it closed. "Right. Now let's go to the city that never sleeps, shall we?" Constantine, Lucifer, and Morpheus got into Morningstar's black car, and sped off towards New York.

 _New York_

"You have an idea where your old girlfriend might be?" Lucifer asked John, as he stamped out a cigarette onto the pavement.

"Her home is just around the corner." Constantine replied, walking down the block. "Last year, we had a fling, and I had to leave in the morning. Someone called, needed an exorcism. When I came back to my apartment, she was gone, and had taken everything- my television set, stereo, old magazines, anything she could find to turn into money. Didn't even think about that pouch though. Even I never got it open." John, Lucifer, and Morpheus entered an apartment, being met by darkness. Constantine lit a match, making his way up the stairs, soon to be followed by his companions.

"Rachel? You here?" John asked, opening a bedroom door. "Oh shit." The woman, Rachel, was found lying on the bed, the dream pouch in front of her, but that didn't catch the attention of the demonologist. John stared in horror, as Rachel's body was withered away, almost anorexic, with chunks of hair missing and her bones were clearly visible through her skin.

"John?" Rachel asked, her eyes watering. "I haven't eaten. I didn't take care of myself. All I wanted was this sand. I dissolved it in my mouth, rubbed it on my skin. I even snorted it like fucking cocaine. Please, help me…" Just then, the Devil walked in, standing next to Constantine.

"Oh Dad." Lucifer said, seeing the sight, when Dream also entered the room, strolling in and taking the pouch. Rachel whimpered.

"I don't feel so good." The woman cried out. "It hurts."

"You can't leave her like this." Constantine told the Sandman.

" _She will be dead soon enough_." Morpheus replied with indifference. " _My sand is all that has kept her alive this long_."

"But you can't leave her like this." Constantine insisted, looking at Dream and Morningstar. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"Oh, bollocks." The Devil muttered, before walking over to Rachel. "Tell me, what is it you desire?" Rachel looked in Lucifer's eyes, before answering, "I want… to be with Constantine." Giving the poor woman one last look of pity, Lucifer looked at Dream, expecting him to do something, anything.

" _Very well._ " The Sandman sighed. " _John Constantine, please step outside._ " The occultist did so, and Dream took out a single speck of sand, tossing it on Rachel's body and causing her to have a dream of being in good health, and living with Constantine. The woman seemed to relax, smiling, before her eyes closed, signaling her death. Dream and Lucifer walked out, stopping in front of Constantine.

" _She died peacefully, and she died happily._ " Morpheus said, before walking outside, waiting in the car.

"Tell me." Constantine asked Lucifer. "Was your sister there?"

"No." Lucifer told him. "Azrael only helps with sending souls to Heaven. Personally, I'm surprised the shrouds didn't show up, but after cheating them twice out of Ritchie's soul, they probably would not want to try to screw with you now."

"What I'm wondering is why they're trying to drag Ritchie's soul into Hell." Constantine wondered. "My soul is more damned than his."

"Maybe there's something we don't know about…" Lucifer guessed. "Something he's keeping from us." Constantine nodded in agreement, and the two headed back to Lucifer's car, with Morpheus irritated.

" _Are we leaving?_ " Dream asked, annoyed. " _We are running out of time._ "

"Don't worry, old friend." Lucifer reassured the Endless. "You'll have your tokens of power back in no time." With that, Morningstar stepped on the gas, and the engine roared to life, taking the three back to Georgia.


	7. A Wild Goose Chase

_Millhouse_

Constantine, Lucifer, and Morpheus arrived at the millhouse, being met by Alice and Batman, all of whom were annoyed.

"You could have created a portal." Alice pointed out.

"It drains my magic, love." Constantine replied, scratching his small stubble. "And I prefer a drive any day."

"You never explained what you're doing here." Batman pointed to the Sandman. "What are you?"

" _I am one of the Endless._ " Dream explained. " _One of seven ideas of humanity. I am the keeper of mankind's dreams… and their nightmares._ "

"How come you're here now then?" Alice asked. "How do you fit into this?"

" _I have been imprisoned for over one hundred years._ " Morpheus continued. " _I am here to reclaim my throne, but I must need three of my tokens of power: my helm, the dream pouch, and the dreamstone._ "

"Well, why didn't you mention the dreamstone before?" Lucifer grumbled. "John and I recently won it in a game of poker the other night."

" _You have my dreamstone?_ " Morpheus asked, grabbing Constantine by the throat. " _Where is it?_ " Just then, Nora entered the room, looking directly at Constantine.

"Ritchie's awake." Nora announced, and the group went to one of the bedrooms, where Simpson lay, staring at the image of the ring.

"Faust." Ritchie stated. A chill went down both Alice and Constantine's spines.

"That's not possible." Constantine told him. "Are you sure?" Ritchie nodded, a yes.

"But he's been dead for five years." Alice spoke. When Constantine gave her a quizzical look, she added, "I was there too, remember? I just didn't reveal myself until Aunt Nica was in danger."

"Not necessarily." Lucifer told them. "Before Morpheus and I left Hell, Cain warned us that Felix escaped Hell."

"And even so, wouldn't he still be alive anyway, if he never met my former adult self?" Nora asked.

"No." Constantine shook his head. "Chas killed him back in 2014. So either way, the damned timeline would've had him dead."

"What matters now is we need to find Faust." Batman announced. "Maybe he had access to the dreamstone, and is the reason citizens all over the planet are seeing demons."

"But we have the dreamstone." Lucifer pointed out.

"Then he could have used it from a long range." Batman replied. "And we'd better start looking for him."

"But how?" Nora asked. "Seeing as how Constantine has technically killed him twice, he'd have taken precautions to make sure he wouldn't be found with magic."

"Then maybe we go a different route." Alice suggested, turning to Morpheus. "If you are the keeper of dreams, can you locate someone based on their dreaming?"

" _Yes…_ " The Sandman said. " _But first, Constantine will hand over my dreamstone._ "

"Sorry mate." Constantine smirked. "Ain't gonna happen until you help us." Morpheus glared at the demonologist, before closing his eyes for a moment.

" _I have found where Faust is._ " Dream murmured, creating a portal to the location. " _Beware, it is heavily guarded._ "

"Thanks mate." Constantine smiled, taking out a cigarette. "Don't worry, you'll get your ruby soon enough. Just stay with Ritchie for now, and make sure he doesn't die on us." Constantine, Batman, Alice, Lucifer, and Nora then stepped through the portal, arriving just outside of Faust's lair.

"So, who wants to knock?" Constantine asked, stamping out the cigarette.

Inside the observatory, Felix Faust was meditating while reading from a spell book. After having help in escaping Hell, he was doing his best to hide himself from the world, and not be sent back. Feeling something was wrong, Faust looked up, seeing the ceiling begin to crumble.

"Who dares?" Felix shouted in a gravelly voice, as Lucifer Morningstar flew down with his angel wings. Just as Lucifer was about to strike the sorcerer, Faust pushed him back with telekinesis. "I will not stoop so low to fight demons, even if it is the Devil. Why don't you fight others of your filthy kind!" Faust created three portals, summoning massive demons with horns to fight Morningstar.

"We might be from Hell, but we are not the same!" Lucifer protested, flying around and punching the demons. "I'm a former angel!" While Faust watched the former lord of Hell duke it out with the demons, Nora and Alice kicked him away, grabbing his book. Unfortunately, Felix simply used his telekinesis to grab the book back and conjure electricity, sending the two flying backwards. While they were getting up, Constantine and Batman arrived, with Batman getting out his grapnel gun.

"Not everything can be solved with your peashooter." Constantine scolded, and began throwing fireballs at the dark mage. Batman joined in with explosive batarangs, and Alice pulled out her gun, shooting at Faust. The sorcerer blocked and ducked under every attack, and snapping his fingers, trapped Constantine in a cube of water.

"Try that fireball again, John." Felix taunted. "I'd love to see you cook yourself alive-" Batman shot the grapnel at Faust's spellbook and swung it into the cube, dissolving the spells. Knowing what was going to happen, John grabbed the rope, and as the cube broke apart, Batman fired another grapple at the ceiling, allowing Constantine to swing back to the ground.

"I take it back." Constantine said, coughing up water. "That thing is useful." On the other side of the observatory, Lucifer knocked two of the demons out with a single punch, before putting the last one in a choke hold and snapping its neck. Alice helped Nora get up, and they joined Constantine in fighting Faust, who was hiding behind cover and continuously throwing fireballs.

"We need someone to sneak up on him." Alice realized. "He can't fight us all on one front." Her prayers were answered, as Lucifer swooped in, grabbing Faust from behind and throwing him into a bookcase. Faust smirked, picking up what was apparently a unicorn's horn and throwing it with telekinesis, but it harmlessly bounced off Morningstar's body.

"Tsk tsk, you'll ruin my suit." Lucifer mocked, picking up Faust and twisting his arms behind his back to ensure he wouldn't be trouble.

"Why are you here?" Faust asked. "I haven't done anything to warrant this response!"

"Really?" Constantine asked, conjuring the image of the ring. "This isn't years?"

"I don't know." Faust replied, shrugging. "I have hundreds of rings."

"Then what about the artifact?" Batman asked. "Causing people to see demons and nightmares all around the world?"

"What artifact?" Felix asked, confused. "I didn't do anything!"

"Why were you trying to kill us?" Nora pressed. "I'm assuming that was you who created the tornado and raising the dead back at Star City PD."

"I swear, I don't know what you're talking about!" Faust insisted. Lucifer rolled his eyes, and turned Faust around.

"Then tell me, what is it you want?" Lucifer asked, looking deep in Felix's soul. "What is it you desire?"

"I want…" Faust began. "To be left alone." Lucifer looked at him, confused.

"What?" Constantine asked.

"Ever since a mysterious force liberated me from Hell, I've just wanted to be left alone." Faust continued. "I don't know who brought me back, but I swear, I haven't done anything to garner your attention!" Lucifer sighed, before letting Faust go.

"He's telling the truth." Lucifer revealed. "And those demons I fought were just our poker buddies in their more massive forms."

"Well, that brings us back to square one." Constantine groaned.

"Unfortunately, no." Batman said.

"What do you mean?" Nora asked, but Alice was starting to see things more clearly.

"Ritchie claimed Faust attacked him." Alice explained. "He sent us here."

"But Ritchie is dying." Constantine protested.

"Is he?" Batman asked. Constantine felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Oh, fuck!" Alice yelled.

 _Millhouse_

The Sandman watched as Ritchie began sleeping, content that he did all he could to help. Morpheus was also confused, however, at the fact that it seemed Simpson's dreams were shrouded so that he could not see them. As Morpheus got up to leave, Ritchie opened one eye, getting out of bed and pulling the handle off his cane, revealing a piece of the dreamstone. Morpheus turned around, feeling its power, but it was too late, and Ritchie latched onto the small sliver.

"God damn, I think I almost actually killed myself back there." Ritchie smirked. "Just glad old Johnny boy came when he did." Morpheus attempted to punch Simpson, but using the power of the dreamstone, Ritchie caught the Endless' fist.

"Uh uh." Ritchie mocked. "You wouldn't beat up an old man, would you?" Ritchie threw Dream to the floor, before using the sliver of the stone to suck out all of Dream's power, rendering him almost mortal. "Now, you just lie down and wait. I can take it from here."


	8. Web of Deception

The Dark Legends exited their portal, appearing just outside of the millhouse.

"Dammit!" Alice shouted. "Why aren't we in the house!"

"Because Ritchie has taken control." Constantine muttered. "Nora, do you still have your timestone?"

"Yes." Nora replied, pulling out the timestone that used to belong to Damien Darhk. Knowing exactly what he had in mind, she focused her power into the stone, but nothing happened. "Damn, I can't get in."

"Fine." Constantine gritted his teeth and walked up to the house, banging on the door. "Ritchie! I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. You open this damn door, right now!" The door opened, and everyone went inside, being met by Ritchie Simpson, his back turned to them. Next to him was the body of the Sandman, knocked unconscious on the floor. Ritchie turned around, revealing he had the rest of the dreamstone.

"You're too late, Johnny boy!" Ritchie taunted, creating a forcefield with the artifact. "After the Flash and Green Arrow cracked a piece off, ole' Doctor Dee needed some help in getting his stone back." Batman threw a batarang, but it simply bounced off, and Ritchie caused everyone to levitate off the ground.

"Stop, while there's still time to save your soul." Constantine begged.

"That's rich coming from you, John." Ritchie laughed. "You condemned poor Astra to Hell!"

"Haven't you heard?" Constantine smirked. "I got some help from a couple friends in bringing her back five years ago."

"It doesn't matter." Ritchie shrugged. "Since you got me infected, I searched the world for a cure, and I finally found it when I met Doctor Destiny at Arkham! He gave me this small piece of the dreamstone after it split, and he told me how to get the demons three to get the rest of it here. It would've been so easy to just take it, but Rockstar Johnny had to screw it all up! So we had to frame Faust and get you to bring me here! Of course, it worked out just nicely, because then, all we had to do was convince Batman to round up Johnny and the Pierce kid, and now, nothing can stop us! I'm immortal, and supercharged!"

"That was you?" Batman asked. "You took control and wrote their names in blood!"

"Goddamn right!" Ritchie laughed. "Dee knew Johnny would be a thorn in his side, so he was hoping Faust would kill him!"

"Then why did you send Batman to find me?" Alice asked. "What did I do to Destiny?"

"Not really to him, but to a friend of his!" Ritchie explained. "Old John Dee was a childhood friend of Charles Lee Ray, and Ray was a mentor to him in dark magic! After your uncle had killed him, he sought revenge, and what better way to do that than to kill you?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Alice asked. "He killed my entire family!"

"Ritchie, do you really think he can cure your cancer?" Constantine asked. "What makes you think he won't stab you in the back?"

"Shut up!" Ritchie yelled. "You're just pissed I finally won!" Simpson then flung his hand, throwing everyone into a wall and knocking them out. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'll save that for Dee." Ritchie levitated and flew out of the millhouse, before teleporting away, leaving the Dark Legends and Morpheus unconscious for the time being.

 _Arkham Asylum_

John Dee waited patiently in his cell, awaiting for his ally to return. He had felt the dreamstone become complete, and knew it was only a matter of time before he would arrive. Moments later, a blinding red light illuminated the cell, and Ritchie Simpson appeared, holding the ruby without any cracks or flaws in it.

"Very good, Mister Simpson." Dee said. "Well done. I trust you did not kill the Pierce girl, or Constantine?"

"Nope, they're still breathing." Ritchie confirmed, handing him the dreamstone. "Now, you're going to help me, right?"

"Something like that." Destiny murmured, pointing the stone at Ritchie. The stone shot a beam of energy at Simpson, but it began pulling him forward.

"Wait, we had a deal!" Ritchie shouted. "I help you, and you'd cure my cancer!"

"I'm merely altering the deal." Dee replied, before Ritchie was completely sucked into the dreamstone. Using the new energy of the man's soul, Dee manipulated a guard into opening his cell, then had that same guard pull out a gun and shoot himself in the head. Still needing more power, even with the Sandman's power, Dee grabbed the gun and left Arkham, stealing a car and driving to Gotham City to hide out and build up power for the dreamstone.

 _Millhouse_

Alice and Constantine slowly got up, before helping Nora, Lucifer, and Morpheus regain consciousness. Batman immediately stood up, waving off Constantine's assistance.

"What the Hell happened?" Lucifer asked.

"Ritchie left." Constantine explained. "He's probably handing the dreamstone off to Destiny right now."

"Dammit, John!" Lucifer yelled. "If you had just given Sandy his family jewels back, we wouldn't be in this mess right now!"

"Enough!" Batman shouted. "I just got a call from Commissioner Gordon. John Dee has escaped!"

"Then we have to find him!" Nora declared, but gripped her side. She was about to fall, but was caught by Batman.

"You're injured." Batman informed. "You're of no use right now."

"We need to get back to Star City." Alice suggested. "Maybe Felicity can track down Destiny."

"No." Lucifer argued. "Star City is too far. We need to get to Gotham right now."

"Alright, but we need to prepare." Batman announced. "We can't just run in blind, Destiny would have the upper hand. It could take several hours just to figure out how to approach this." Everyone else agreed, and as they were about to leave the room, when Alice saw the Sandman, lying on the floor. Rushing over to the master of dreams, Pierce tried to help him up.

" _Wait!_ " Dream cried out, and whispered into her ear. " _The dreamstone is corrupted by his madness. Only destroying it will return me to my full power._ " Alice nodded, as Lucifer picked up his old friend, and the Dark Legends began to plan their attack on Destiny in Gotham.


	9. 24 Hours

_24 Hour Diner_

 _Hour 1_

"Bette, can I have a refill?" A woman, named Christine, asked while John Dee sat in a corner at the 24 Hour Diner, deciding to lay low and bide his time. "And a tuna on rye?"

"Of course, hon." The waitress, Bette, replied, going to the kitchen to fill the coffee pot. A minute later, she came back with the coffee, and the tuna sandwich. Soon after, more people started entering the diner. One of the men was rather large, with a suit and striped tie. In his hand was a briefcase with a logo of the local chemical factory, Ace Chemicals. Dee supposed it was breaktime, as that man, whom he found out was named Fletcher, walking with a woman named Kate, were just the first of multiple people who came through the door. Dee looked up, seeing Bette staring at him from the other side of the diner. He quickly realized that he had been in there ever since the woman had started her shift, and was growing suspicious of him. Doctor Destiny quickly looked away, pretending to drink coffee, but putting a hand in his pocket, and began fiddling with the dreamstone.

 _Hour 2_

"Shit!" One of the men, named Neil, swore loudly. "I'm going to be late!" The man slapped a five dollar bill down onto his table and got up. "Ma'am, I'm leaving five dollars, that should cover it. I'm sorry-"

"Where do you think you're going?" Dee whispered, the dreamstone glowing a blood red.

"I- uh…" Neil struggled to find words, before sitting back down. "Ma'am, could I have more coffee, please?" Bette smiled, walking over and pouring more of the black liquid into a mug, with Neil exclaiming the coffee was good. It was only two hours, and Dee was already forced to prevent anyone from leaving.

 _Hour 3_

"Please, I would like to watch the television." Dee requested, pointing to the small TV. "Will you make it work?"

"You want the TV on? No problem." Bette replied, washing a dish. As Destiny overheard Christine speak to someone on the payphone, Bette flipped through the channels.

" _In yesterday's pulse churning episode of secret hearts-"_

" _You mean… I married my dentist?"_

" _But if my siamese twin is HIV positive doctor, doesn't that mean…"_

" _I'm not just crazy, Cara. I'm crazy with a gun. Say your prayers-"_

"Tight assed old hag!" Christine yelled, causing everyone to look in her direction. "Sorry. I wish I was dead." Finally, Bette stopped the remote, and Dee settled on one show.

 _Hour 4_

Dee began watching the television with great interest. Inside the little box, there was a smiling man with jet black hair, holding up a small dinosaur sock puppet.

" _Look kids! It's Dino the Dinosaur!"_ The man exclaimed. " _Hold on kids, Dino is trying to tell me something! Gee Dino! I didn't know it was Terry Pteranodon's birthday today. Should we bake him a cake?"_ At this point, Destiny decided to play with the dreamstone, testing its limits.

" _You want to tell me something else, Dino?"_ The sockpuppet nodded its head, and the man put the puppet to his ear. " _We're going to die kids. We're going to kill ourselves. Dino told me that we should slash our wrists right now. Remember kids, sideways is for attention, the long way is for results-"_ Just as the man began running a knife down his wrists, the screen went white, with the bold letters **Please stand by, we are experiencing technical difficulties.** Destiny cackled at the sight, only stopping when he noticed everyone in the diner began staring at him strangely.

 _Millhouse_

Alice, Batman, and Constantine continued discussing their plan, while Nora and Lucifer took care of Morpheus, when suddenly, Batman felt his comms ring.

"Bruce, have you seen the news?" Oliver Queen's voice rang in.

"No, why?" Batman asked.

"The TV host of a children's show just attempted to commit suicide on the air." Oliver informed. "He claimed that the sockpuppet he was using told him to kill himself, and he began slashing his wrists then and there."

"If this is what I think it is, I'm working on it." Batman told Queen, before ending the communication.

"Destiny must've used the dreamstone to manipulate that man." Constantine guessed.

"Shit. Then he can use the dreamstone on anyone, no matter how far away." Alice announced. "We need to stop him, he keeps getting stronger by the hour."

 _24 Hour Diner_

 _Hour 5_

"I'm just saying, this is getting fucking weird!" Fletcher shouted out loud. "No one's come in, but it seems we've been here for hours. Something's very wrong…" Dee used the dreamstone, manipulating the man's thoughts. "...I, er, love this place. Anyway, I've been having horrible nightmares this morning. Terrible." Dee smiled, knowing the patrons of the diner were still under his control.

 _Hour 6_

While Fletcher was being forced to stay in the diner, Dee noticed that Christine was writing a letter to her girlfriend, Perrey. Using the dreamstone, Destiny watched as she tried to write out an apology, but she soon gave up, resting her head on the table and crying into her hands.

 _Hour 7_

Dee decides to toy with the others in the diner, making them feel good with dreams of pleasure. Neil imagines that he is the executive director of a big company, possibly of Wayne Enterprises. Fletcher dreams of having oral sex with a twenty dollar hooker in the back of his car, then beating her up and throwing her out. Finally, Kate thought of how she'd never have to worry about Fletcher's infidelities again. She dreamed of never finding lipstick on his collar again, being just hers once more.

 _Hour 8_

Dee moved among the crowd, experiencing their little pleasures in life. While feeling echoes of their dreams, Doctor Destiny felt tremors in the dreamstone, telling him of deaths and madness from faraway, possibly around the world. This comforted him, as he was growing bored of the minor joys of the people in the diner. Bette enjoys reading horror novels. Christine and Perrey's short reunion excites Dee, only for a while. Dee gets marginal enjoyment from having Mark thinking he had died and went to Hell. It's almost nearly as fun as watching the news report about his dreamstone.

" _Is the world going mad?"_ The anchorman asked. " _Reports are coming in from across the state, and other areas in the country, about a wave of madness, suicide, and nightmares…"_

 _Millhouse_

Alice, Constantine, and Batman sat in the main room with Nora and Lucifer, discussing what to do about Destiny. Just then, Alice received a call from her uncle, Andy Barclay.

"Alice, are you watching the news?" Andy asked.

"No, why?" Alice frowned. Batman pulled out a small screen from his utility belt, flipping it over to Gotham News Network.

"I'm hearing reports in Chicago that there's been a spike in murder and suicide in the last couple hours." Barclay replied over the phone. "Alice, what the fuck is going on?"

"There's a guy named Destiny who is controlling people through a magic stone." Alice explained, with a hint of sarcasm. "Trust me, Uncle Andy, I have this covered. Bruce is with me on this. So are Constantine and Lucifer. I'll take care of it." Alice then hung up, seeing everyone looking at her.

"We'd better get to Gotham now." Batman announced. "We need to stop Destiny." Everyone else nodded, and got into Lucifer's car and began driving.

 _24 Hour Diner_

 _Hour 9_

Dee quickly decided that conflict reveals someone's character, as he used the dreamstone to manipulate the patrons into fighting with each other.

"You filthy dyke bitch!" Mark yelled, slamming his fist into Christine's jaw, hearing a satisfying crack of something break as she groaned.

 _Hour 10_

Dee manipulated everyone into loving him, treating him as a god. As the patrons paraded the old man around without clothes, Fletcher lifting him onto his shoulders, he heard them speak to him.

"Dee… Dee…" They chanted. "We love you Dee… you're so beautiful."

 _Hour 11_

Dee decides to catch up on the news, hearing of nightmares plaguing people all around the world. He hears of people falling asleep at the wheel and getting in crashes, vehicles overturning in otherwise quiet towns, people preparing for the apocalypse. When that gets boring, he continues revealing people's conflict, having Mark continue to beat up Christine.

"You filthy lesbo filth." Mark muttered, as Kate and Fletcher attempted to hold the two back from killing each other.

"Let go of me, you fucking bastard!" Christine shouted. "I'll kill him!"

"All you need is a proper man. A real man." Mark sneered. "I'll show you bitch. I'll give it to you." Soon after, Dee grew bored, and resumed his status as a god.

"Doctor Dee. Doctor Dee." Fletcher continued chanting, lifting Dee up on his shoulders again, with the word "God" smeared over Dee's chest. "Great and wise and wonderful Dee…" One of the man cut off his finger and offered it to Dee as a blood sacrifice. Dee accepted, licking the blood, pretending to derive pleasure. But deep inside, he finds no satisfaction from the sacrifice; he doesn't know what he wants to eat. Over on the news, he sees talk shows attempt to make sense of the world wide crime and nightmares, but just can't figure out what is going on.

 _Hour 12_

It is time, Dee thinks, that the customers to get to know each other better.

"The worst thing I've ever done?" Kate asked. "...I was 18, drunk, in college. Next door to my apartment was a funeral home. My boyfriend and I had just split, and I was crazy. I was walking and found myself outside the funeral home. I must've been looking for a place to piss, but found myself in the mortuary. There was a body on the table, young guy who used to good looking. I don't know why, but I wasn't freaking out, I was more excited. I went over to the body and started playing with it, then I climbed on top of the body and started… going, cowgirl style. I don't want to tell anyone this, oh God… but sometimes, when Gary and I make love, I ask him to lie real still. I'd close my eyes and pretend, but it was never… never the same." Gary Fletcher looked at his wife in horror, but Dee stopped him from saying anything through the dreamstone.

 _Hour 13_

The patrons of the diner begin to know each other… intimately. Using the dreamstone, Dee forces everyone in the diner to participate in an orgy, as they took off their clothes and have rough sex on the hard, cold tile floor. Essentially, they were all being raped by each other, as their assailant simply watched from afar.

"Neat." Destiny simply commented, as "The Addams Family" was heard playing on the TV.

 _Hour 14_

Twelve o'clock. Midnight. Dee uses the dreamstone to consult three "oracles".

"Tell me my future." Dee requested.

"You come from dust."

"You walk the dust."

"You go back to dust."

"Tell me my future." Dee said again, this time more irritated.

"You have no future, John Dee."

"It's a future bound by walls and guards and the sour smell of madness."

"And then the skein of your life is cut, son of your mother."

"Tell my future!" Dee yelled, the dreamstone glowing red.

"You have stolen the power of dreams."

"You have taken all of it."

"You will crush out the dream-lord's life with your hands, John Dee."

"Yes, that's good." Dee crooned. "I like that future. Clever flies, clever little insects."

 _Hour 15_

Dee gave the patrons back their minds, if only for a little while.

"But why?" Kate asked. "What did we do?"

"Why us, you fucker?" Mark asked, but was restrained from attacking by Bette. "Why are you doing this shit to us? You'll fucking kill us!"

"Why?" Dee asked, ripping off his coat. "Because I can!"

 _Hour 16_

Dee shuts off the lights, preparing what he calls a party game.

"Murder in the dark!" Dee whispers, as someone screams. Dee cackles a sinister laugh, flipping on the lights to reveal it was Neil who was murdered, one of the diner's knives lodged in his skull.

 _Hour 17_

Confessions and penance. Dee fiddled with the dreamstone, watching as Mark had nails hammered into his hand.

"Bette, you know Marsha knew about us?" Mark asked. "She's the only woman I loved, but I hated her. So, on New Year's Eve, I bought her a whole crate of vodka, and left town for a week. When I came back, she was in the hospital. I good as got her killed. Then, when I was in jail, I saw your son, Bernie. He was hustling his ass down in the Narrows, got picked up for knifing his pimp. You could have him for a pack of smokes."

"No, I don't want to hear this…" Bette pleaded, but kept handing him nails that he could hammer into his hand.

"Bette…" Mark said gently. "I did."

 _Hour 18_

Dee brings out the primal urges in them all. Mark circles around, on his hands and knees, while Bette, Christine, and Kate huddle under a table, as Fletcher approaches the old man, also on all fours. It's almost fascinating, like an episode of National Geographic. The pack leader is spoiling for a fight, springing at the rival. Fletcher lets forth an inhuman growl, jumping on Mark and tearing out the older man's throat with his teeth. Blood flows everywhere, with the challenger dead. The victory, like the blood, is sweet.

 _Hour 19_

Doctor Destiny tells the remaining patrons the story of Snow White, lying to them in the process.

"'To prove it's safe, I'll take the green half, and you'll have the red half.'" Dee recited the old fairy tale. "Trusting the wicked queen, Snow White took a bite from the rosy red apple, and instantly fell down as if she were dead."

"But, she's not really dead, is she?" Kate asked, her eyes full of worry.

"Oh yes." Dee nodded. "She's really dead."

 _Hour 20_

Dee thought it was time for entertainment, using the dreamstone on the three ladies to sing and dance for him. As they were singing an old song, they kicked their legs high, doing the can can, as Bette cut off Mark's nailed hand, and used a cleaver to behead Fletcher. When the song was over, Dee forced Betting to slit her own throat with the same cleaver, causing blood to spill everywhere as the waitress died.

 _Hour 21_

Using the dreamstone, Dee shows the final two patrons the delights of belief.

"I want to see it, Doctor. I trust you. I will see the glory." Christine whispered, taking two needles and jamming them into her eyes. "Oh God! Sweet lord, I can see it! I can see the glory!" Christine pushed the needles further through the eye sockets, puncturing her skull and killing her instantly.

 _Hour 22_

Beginning to bored, Dee simply had Kate cut herself repeatedly with a butter knife, eventually succumbing to the many wounds and dying of blood loss. At last, Dee was alone, surrounded by grotesque bodies around the diner.

 _Hour 23_

While walking around the diner aimlessly, Doctor Destiny looked up, seeing a lone fly flying around his head. Using the dreamstone, Dee controlled the fly, manipulated it into flying into Dee's open palm. Bringing his hand to his mouth, Dee ate the fly, chewing the insect with satisfaction before swallowing. Finally, he had found something to eat.

 _Gotham_

The Dark Legends pulled up to Gotham Square, seeing civilians fighting in the streets, and cops shooting at people, thinking they were demons. Quickly, everyone got out of Lucifer's car, and Constantine attempted to cast a protection spell over the group to prevent them from being possessed.

"We have to find Destiny." Batman announced. "It's the only way to stop this nightmare."

"I see him." Alice pointed to an old restaurant, labeled the 24 Hour Diner. Just then, the communications rang, with Batman answering.

"Batman, it's Overwatch." Felicity said into the comms. "Thank God you're in Gotham. I sent Barry, Oliver, and Kara to back you up."

"No, that's a bad idea." Batman told her. "Now Destiny can control them." Sure enough, Batman looked up, seeing the three superheroes arrive, but they began fighting cops and civilians alike.

"I'll distract Supergirl." Lucifer declared, revealing his wings and flying up. Batman looked back at the ground, seeing Oliver fire an arrow at him, which he caught. Quickly, Batman took out several batarangs, throwing them at the Emerald Archer, but they were just countered by arrows. Oliver and Bruce got close enough for hand to hand combat, trading punches and kicks, until Batman grabbed the bow and bashed Queen over the head with it, knocking him out for the time being. Just as Oliver went down, Bruce saw a red blur, followed by a punch to the face. The Flash continued to punch Batman, until he froze mid swing and thrown into a building. Looking behind him, Batman saw Nora had used her magic to stop the Flash and incapacitate him. Back above ground, Lucifer flew around the city, with Supergirl close behind.

"Lucifer, I have a plan!" The Devil heard Constantine speak. "Get her to fly towards the ground, near me!" Lucifer simply nodded, and began flying low towards Constantine, who had drawn a circle with magical symbols. Once the Kryptonian got close enough, Constantine waved his hand, and a blue energy flew up, trapping Supergirl in an invisible barrier. The hero screamed in anger, pounding her fists against the magical prison.

"Sorry, love." Constantine apologized. "Not even the demon Mallus could break out of this. Plus, Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic." With the superheroes dealt with, Constantine turned to Alice.

"We'll deal with crowd control." Constantine told her. "Stop Destiny. There's a chance he could still control any one of us, except you."

"Why me?" Alice asked.

"Because you've died and been to both Heaven and Hell." Constantine explained. "You've seen horrors Destiny could only dream of, no pun intended. Now get in there and kick Destiny's ass." Alice smirked, running into the diner while the rest of the Dark Legends fought off the possessed crowd.

 _Hour 24_

Alice walked into the old diner, seeing the place littered with the bodies of former patrons. One had their throat torn out. Another had needles in their eyes. There was even a disembodied head, sitting there in the middle of the diner. Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust, before walking to the far corner of the diner, finding Doctor Destiny lounging in a booth.

"Hello, Pierce." Dee sneered. "I'm glad you're here. It was starting to get boring. But you don't like much of a threat… are you?" Alice remained silent, glaring at the old man. Dee cackled.

"I can't believe they sent you here alone." Dee laughed. "You? Not Constantine or the Devil himself? No matter. After I kill you and avenge Charles, I'll kill that petty dabbler, the Devil who wishes he was a mortal, and that pathetic boy in the bat costume." The dreamstone glowed, and Alice doubled over, seeing nightmares and demons. Dee giggled sinisterly, walking over to the girl.

"You can't stop me." Dee snickered. "I don't know how Charles ever had trouble with you, or your family. I'm going to have you watch, as I force your aunt and uncle tear each other apart." At the mention of her family being in danger, Alice stood up, slowly took out her gun and shot Dee in the shoulder, causing him to drop the dreamstone. Dee howled in pain, as Pierce put her foot on top of the stone.

"How?" Dee asked, grunting from the wound.

"I have seen killer dolls." Alice began, her anger rising. "I have died and went to Heaven, been kidnapped by a demon and sent to Hell, twice, fought an evil sorcerer who threatened to bring Hell on Earth, almost destroyed the world by altering the timeline, fought aliens, and had to fight an evil doppelganger of my uncle. And you think mere nightmares can scare me?" With that, Alice raised her foot and brought it down, shattering the dreamstone into millions of tiny pieces, with Dee screaming as if it was apart of himself. The energy from the stone rose up and exited the Diner, travelling back to the Sandman at the Millhouse. As Dee was cowering on the floor, the rest of the Dark Legends entered the diner.

"Well, good news." Lucifer said cheerfully. "Everyone seems back to normal."

"Johnny boy!" A scream was heard outside, prompting everyone to exit the diner, with Lucifer grabbing Destiny by the neck. Some of the dream energy touched down in front of the diner, taking the form of Ritchie Simpson. In an instant, the shrouds returned, this time not scared by Constantine.

"Johnny, I was under compulsion!" Ritchie pleaded, as the shrouds crept closer. "You gotta save me. You owe me!"

"Sorry mate." Constantine coldly replied, jabbing a thumb toward Dee. "Can't take the chance that Destiny is still pulling your strings." With that, the shrouds pulled Ritchie's soul from his body, dragging him to Hell as his pleas for help fell on deaf ears. Once Ritchie was taken to Hell, Constantine turned back to Destiny.

"What do we do with him?" Lucifer asked, pointing to Dee. Just then, Morpheus appeared, having teleported with his full power.

" _Thank you, Alice Pierce."_ Dream said. " _My power has been restored, thanks to all of you."_

"It's time to bring him back to Arkham." Batman announced, picking up the old man.

"No, please!" Dee pleaded. "I can't go back! I don't want to!"

"Wait, Batsy!" Lucifer called, and knelt down next to the sobbing John Dee, looking into his eyes. "Tell me, driving the whole world mad wasn't your original intention, was it? So what do you truly desire?"

"I want… to be able to dream again." Dee replied slowly. When the Devil gave him a confused look, he explained, "When the Green Arrow and Flash captured me, they used a machine on me at Star Labs to stop me from dreaming. Now, I can barely sleep."

"Fine." Lucifer muttered. "How about a deal: you go back to Arkham, don't bother us ever again, in exchange for being able to dream again."

"Yes, anything!" Dee quickly said. Lucifer smiled.

"Good. Sandy?" Lucifer asked, looking at his old friend. Morpheus sighed, waving his hand for a moment, and Dee soon fell asleep.

" _It is done."_ Dream announced. " _John Dee can now dream once more."_

"Excellent." Lucifer smirked. "Now, Bats, feel free to take him to the loony bin." Batman nodded, shaking everyone's hand and thanking them for the help, before using his grapnel gun to fly away, carrying Destiny with him towards Arkham Asylum. With the battle won, Alice, Nora, Constantine and Lucifer got into the black car and drove away from Gotham, ready to take a break from fighting. Dream watched as the Dark Legends left, and smiling, he disappeared in a black cloud, vanishing from the Earth.


	10. Epilogue: Moving On

The Sandman found himself sitting on a street corner, feeding pigeons. He didn't know if he was in Gotham, Los Angeles, or Chicago, but honestly, he couldn't care. Hearing something fly by, Dream raised his arm, catching a soccer ball.

"Sick catch man!" A young kid, no older than twenty, ran up to him. "Wanna play ball with us?"

" _No."_ Morpheus murmured, punting the ball away. " _I am feeding the pigeons."_ The boy looked at the man strangely, before walking off. Feeling another presence to his other side, Morpheus looked to his right, seeing a woman as pale as him, with black hair and wearing what appeared to be goth clothes and an ankh necklace.

" _Death. My sister."_ Dream greeted. " _I thought you were busy."_

"I always am." Death of the Endless grumbled. "I'd like to see you take over my job."

" _Then why are you here?"_ Morpheus asked.

"Because I'm worried for you, brother." Death replied. "It isn't like you to sit here, moping. What's the matter?" Dream sighed.

" _I suppose something is the matter."_ The Sandman rambled. " _I had found my tools. I had completed my quest. And now, the quest is over. I no longer have a purpose. I thought I would feel good once I had my possessions, but inside, I feel… nothing."_

"I don't believe you." Death said. "So what if you don't have a quest anymore? So what if the game is over? Play a new game! I just can't believe it!"

" _You know…"_ Sandman tried to change the subject. " _They weren't after me when I was imprisoned. They were after you."_

"Yeah, I know." Death replied nonchalantly. "Wait, don't change the subject! I can't stay long, so I'm only gonna say this once!"

" _But if they had captured you, the consequences-"_ Dream attempted to continue, but Death stopped him.

"Just shut up and listen!" Death ordered. "You have responsibilities, just like I do! All the Endless have responsibilities to uphold! You cannot just throw them away because you're disappointed!" Dream looked up at his sister in realization, with a look of understanding in his black eyes.

" _I… I thank you, my sister."_ Morpheus told her. " _You just reminded me of my duty. Thank you."_

"That's what family's for, little brother." Death replied, smiling. "I have to head back soon. It was good seeing you though." With a soft beating of wings, Death was gone, leaving Dream alone on the curb. Slowly, Dream got up, taking a handful of sand and throwing it to the birds to feed, before vanishing in thin air. He had duties to uphold as the master of dreams, but that could wait. For now, he wanted to travel the world and catch up on lost time over the last one hundred and six years.

 _One Year Later_

 _Chicago_

Alice Pierce was sitting at a table in a chinese restaurant, surrounded by her family and friends. Sitting on either side of her were Andy and Nica, with Oliver Queen, his son William, and his wife Felicity sitting across from them. A chair was pulled up for Nora Darhk, and Constantine and Lucifer sat on the ends.

"Trixie and her parents give their regards." Lucifer apologized. "Crime rates have spiked in the last week."

"Nevertheless, happy birthday Alice." Andy told his niece. "What was it you once said Oliver? That you wish it wasn't the dark times that brought us together…"

"But it's our friends who make those times worth having." Oliver finished, raising his glass in a toast. Everyone agreed, raising their glasses as well.

"So, Alice, what are your plans, now that you are legally an adult?" Felicity asked. Alice took a sip of her drink, before speaking.

"I'm thinking on joining the police force in Chicago." Alice replied, looking towards Andy. "I read up on Mike Norris, and I'd like to say I was inspired by what he did." Andy smiled back at her.

"A good choice." Constantine commented. "You know, I once thought of joining the police, before I learned of demons and the occult."

"If you'd like, Chloe and I can always stop by to give you advice." Lucifer offered, flashing a grin.

"We'll be sure to at least visit." William and Nora added. Alice smiled, and began to eat her Mu Shu pork.

"You know why we chose this specific restaurant?" Nica asked everyone at the table. Alice looked at her aunt, confused.

"It was the toy store that Charles Lee Ray died in, and where Chucky was born." Andy explained. "I sometimes like coming here to remind myself that he's dead. Well, that, and the fact that the food here is delicious." Everyone at the table laughed loudly, before Constantine stood up.

"Well, I'd best be going." John announced. "I don't want to be late for my flight back to Liverpool. Happy birthday Alice, and it's been a pleasure knowing you all." Soon after Constantine left, everyone else finished eating, and after Lucifer paid the bill, they all left to go back to Los Angeles or Star City. On the way back to their own house, Andy and Nica began talking with Alice.

"What do you think you'll do in college?" Andy asked, out of the blue.

"Probably study law and criminal justice." Alice answered. "And I might look into your thesis on completion anxiety, Aunt Nica."

"Go ahead, Alice." Nica told her. "Anything that can help you later."

"Are you sure you want to join the police department?" Andy asked. "Mike ended up dying."

"I know that, but I want to make a difference." Alice responded. "I want to help the people of Chicago, and not just as a vigilante who wears a cape and tights. This way, I can actually bring justice to those who commit atrocities."

"Sounds like you're finally growing up." Nica murmured. "I just want you to know that I'm proud of you, no matter what you do."

"I'm just glad I don't have to worry about ghosts or demons anymore." Alice smirked. "I think we've all had enough adventures for a lifetime."

 _The End_


End file.
